It’s getting ever so slightly more difficult to get that 6:30AM wake up call from the tiny person in the room next door. It’s making me miss throwing dinner on the grill at 8:30PM while the sun is still out. I’ve even seen some trees in our neighborhood turn orange. It’s happening. Winter is coming, just ignore the fact that it’s 90 degrees outside.

Here in Wisconsin we get that two week in-between season called fall, which happens to be my favorite. This is because I hate sweating but also always complain when I have to wear real shoes. I’m not yet ready to pull out the pumpkins quite yet (nor am I ready to be assaulted by the cinnamon and clove smell that stores have when the holiday season starts). Summer produce may not be as abundant, but we still have some goodies here.

This week, I found myself with a couple red peppers from the CSA basket and no obvious plan. No creative ideas surfaced until a picture from Spain came up in my TimeHop and I remembered romesco sauce, a roasted red pepper sauce that is the perfect accompaniment to a meaty white fish.

And so I got to work. I like to broil the red peppers until their skin is nice and charred, then toss them into the food processor, skin still attached, with lots of paprika and olive oil. The skin adds a nice smoky flavor to the sauce which gives it more depth, but I know traditionally the skin is peeled off.

The potatoes and fish are prepared simply: drizzled in olive oil and pan fried (potatoes) or baked (fish) with little fuss. The magic comes from being smothered in the finished romesco sauce right before serving.

And if you’ve got left over sauce to play with, throw it on your eggs in the morning. It adds the perfect punch.

Turn broiler on high. Place peppers, cut side down on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Rub olive oil into skin and place under broiler for 8-10 minutes, until skin is nicely charred. Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Preheat oven to 425.

In a food processor, pulse together garlic, almonds, tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, and paprika. Add in charred red pepper and pulse. Slowly add in olive oil and pulse until sauce is thick but without any clumps. Set aside.

To make the rest:

Heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Add potatoes and a couple pinches of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 25 minutes.

Place cod on baking dish and drizzle with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and some Kosher salt. When potatoes have about 15 minutes left, place fish in oven for 12 minutes.

Spoon ¾ of romesco sauce onto potatoes and stir to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To plate, place fish on top of potatoes and spoon remaining romesco sauce on fish.